four haikus and a sleepless night

if you can't sleep
you are sleepless
not a poet, please.

~

a blank canvas of a night
doesn't make a poem
what else does ?

~

two pillows
still no pillow talk
what's wrong with these pillows ?

~

a laptop screen at night
is an island of light
and a bug's delight

~

all things that make a happy commute !!!

okay everyone hates it, i know. most days i hate it too. but there comes a day i suspect in every commuter's life when you love it so much you just don't want to get off. today was one of those days. everything went right for once. slept well. got up in time. had a good breakfast at home. caught the bus just in time. didn't forget the umbrella. didn't forget the cellphone. got the window seat. it was not raining. but it looked like it would any moment - the clouds and a happy breeze full of promise. and all the while i kept humming a tune from last night. :)

a memory from years ago when on a late night half empty train i would sing aloud tunelessly into the screaming wind. no one could hear. not even me.

Sleeping Beauty and the Airplane

"Then I contemplated her, inch by inch, for several hours, and the only sign of life I could detact were the shadows of the dreams that passed along her forehead like clouds over water."

~~ from the re-reading of "Sleeping Beauty and the Airplane", one of my favorite short stories from "Strange Pilgrims"

the dog problem I & II

i went for a jog this morning. before i go into the problems, let me just soak up the applause.

applause. applause.

well thank you and i love you too. okay then now lets get to the story. the dog wanted to come too, but he refused to put his leash on. and he'd already had his morning walk with dad. so i didn't take him along. and guess what it rained on my once-in-a-season jogging day. what was i thinking it is a season for rain even more so in mumbai. but i wasn't about to stop this being my once-in-a-season jogging day. so jogging in the rain is fun and the park gets almost empty. there are a few umbrella walkers but no problem navigating around them.

problem one

i come back drenched in rain and found the dog waiting by the door seething in anger. ignored him and went for my bath. came back and saw he'd torn my socks apart. lesson learnt. never ignore an angry dog. always hide your socks before you do.

problem two

caught the dog humping a folded mattress y'day. and he looked in a tearing hurry it seemed. somehow rescued the mattress. have to google for a breeding center in mumbai. for the dog you know.

a long weekend ..

this series is inspired by M's weekend blog. hence the initials for names :)

Thursday

my weekend started thursday mid morning actually when i decided to go back home halfway from the commute to office. formals are a sordid affair anyway but when you get soaked in the rain, you just can't wait to get out of them. and the office might not have been a good place for that. so i came home, made mixed popcorns (chilly surprise with butter pepper) and a big mug of tea. finished my work for the day and promptly applied for a day off on friday. now all office goers agree that there is possibly nothing else which quite matches the feeling.

A and I celebrated N's (S or P for those who know him better) birthday at night. very simple affair - a butter scotch cake, all the leftover alcohol in the house plus doctor's brandy for the birthday boy (the cold spares no one you see) and yes some vanilla ice cream to top the night/early morning. and all the silly things that come on tv late night.


Friday

a very happy morning indeed. chatted with friends, played badminton and then food and sleep. went for "salt" at night and came back home to finish yet another (new) bottle of rum. and all the silly things that come on tv late night again.

Saturday

mom n dad arrived. and the dog too. huge effort picking them up from two different places. "why?" is out of scope of this blog. but then watching the dog check out the town out of the taxi window more than made up for all of it. :)


Sunday

just stayed home. mom's food and tv and football with the dog. he is pretty good i must say even though he doesn't understand all the rules. and yeah all the kids in the building visited just to see the dog. will post a picture of him in the next blog. :)

a well spent sunday ..

went to a national park today .. and it was full of people. marauding picknicking people. people with kids and dogs and enough food to eat and throw away. people who scream out of cars and scare animals and people alike. young kids who drive dangerously. god bless them.

came back home. nadal won the wimbledon again. i don't care if he deserved it. felt sad for brazil a few days ago. i hate the dutch now. i want them to lose to uruguay.

the point is i have very little love for the world today. and i feel like a cynical old man critisizing everything. that's not me but that's okay.

so that was the day.

its raining.

its been raining since i woke up today. all whiteness outside the window. and it was still lashing when i woke up again. merciless and beautiful. so naturally i didn't go to office.
i know this love might go when i step out of the house and try to negotiate the city. so i promise you all i won't. working from home today as you can see. no, really :)